


'How to Parent' by Edie Lehnsherr

by SprinklesofSunshine



Category: X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies), X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern: No Powers, Charles Xavier has a Ph.D in Adorable, Cherik Big Bang, Edie is amazing, Erik Logic Is The Best Logic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-15
Updated: 2019-08-15
Packaged: 2020-09-26 01:04:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20381140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SprinklesofSunshine/pseuds/SprinklesofSunshine
Summary: Edie prided herself on being a good mother. The best mother even. After all, she had several mugs in her cupboards declaring that truth gifted by her two children over the years. However, something is going on with her son, Erik, and it's her duty to find out what....





	'How to Parent' by Edie Lehnsherr

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! This is my contribution for Cherik Big Bang 2019!  
I hope it pleases, I hope to continue the story at some point :D
> 
> A huge thank you to the amazing @IreneADonovan for the all the artwork you see in this story - I can't thank you enough for all the hard work you've put in!

<https://i.ibb.co/hsd2LF2/Add-Text-07-29-11-44-40.jpg>

Edie prided herself on being a good mother. The best mother even. After all, she had several mugs in her cupboards declaring that truth gifted by her two children over the years. She and Jakob had never been particularly well off, but they’d strived to make sure their children had grown up in the most loving home they could possibly have. 

<https://i.ibb.co/hHMLmgG/Add-Text-07-29-03-23-50-20190729034238141-20190729043231322.jpg>

In fact, she was currently in the middle of her fortnightly gossip session with her eldest, Ruth. Even though Ruth was now at college, they still made every effort to meet and talk about anything and everything that was going on their worlds.

After about three hours they’d finally exhausted just about everything that was going on in their personal lives. So, naturally, they moved onto their next favourite topic of discussion; Erik. At nineteen he was more than capable of taking care of himself, and often displayed a level of maturity higher than most adults twice his age. But, despite this, he often bore the brunt of both his mother and his sisters endless meddling in his life. 

“So,'' said Edie, taking a sip of her fourth latte, “what is going on with your brother lately?”

“What do you mean?” Ruth asked, looking dubious. The only problem with her children growing up was that they always seemed to know when she was up to something.

“He’s been quiet, quieter than usual that is. And he’s out of the house more often after work but he won’t say where it is that he’s going. Your father tried to ask him the other day and he completely shut down. And you know he tells us everything.” 

“So he’s unhappy?”

“No not at all. If anything I would say he seems happier than usual.”

Not that Erik was an unhappy boy by any means. Just happy and content in his own quiet and reserved way. 

But lately something seemed different with him. She knew he was an adult now, and with that came an expected level of privacy from him. Still, she was mum. It was her job to know everything...right?

“Well then maybe he’s just found some new friends to hang out with. I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about.”

“Hmmm”, Edie mused, getting lost in thought. 

Ruth frowned. “Oh no, I know that look. You are not to get involved in this!”

“I never get involved in things!”

“Mama, I love you, but you are the biggest meddler I have ever met”, Ruth grinned cheekily at her from across the table.

Edie sat back, ready to throw herself into some fond bickering but something caught her eye. She immediately ducked down, much to Ruth’s confusion. 

“Get down!” Edie whispered loudly, shoving a random menu at Ruth’s face. 

“Mama what the…?”

“It’s Erik!”

“Yes I know it’s Erik, he’s the one we’re gossiping about!”

“No! Over there - look!” She stage whispered, pointing to the figure standing across the square from them.

Erik was standing by a random shop front, hands in his pockets with an almost nervous appearance to his posture. What was he doing out here?

“Let’s just wait for the scene to unfold a bit more,'' she whispered, not taking her eyes off her son. 

Ruth groaned. “Oh my gosh, you watch way too many detective shows.”

“Well of course, that’s the only thing they ever show at the hospital!”

“Well let’s just go over and say hi. He does, you know, like know who we are any everything.”

“Absolutely not! I want to see what he does!”

Ruth groaned again dramatically and put her head in her hands. 

“Mama what do expect is going to happen? He’s going to commit murder right in front of us or something?” She mumbled sarcastically into her arm.

Edie shhh’d her, pushing a plate of fries towards her. 

They watched Erik for a couple of minutes; long enough that Edie began to get bored and had half a mind to just go over and invite him to join in with their gossip session. 

But just as she was about to give up, Erik’s face lit up and he grinned at something in the crowd. For a second, Edie feared they’d been spotted but Erik barely glanced their way and instead focused on the person currently walking up to him. 

Said person, though they could only see the back of him, appeared to be a young man, around the same age as Erik, with a spring in his step and bouncy, dark brown hair. 

As he got closer, Erik’s smile only grew wider and he swept the young man into a hug.

Edie was stunned enough by that alone. Erik was rarely physically affectionate with anyone outside of their immediate family. 

But she was stunned even further when Erik tenderly cupped the boy’s face and pulled him into a deep kiss, regardless of the crowds around them.

He pulled back and whispered something into the boy’s ear that made him throw his head back in laughter, the sweet sound carrying over to the coffee shop. Erik threw an arm around his shoulders and steered them away.

Edie and Ruth sat there; stunned.

“Woah”, said Ruth, for once at a loss for words.

“I can’t believe he hasn’t told me”, Edie muttered to herself. 

She couldn’t help but feel a little upset by that fact. Ever since he was little Erik had always made a point of sharing his life with her. They’d never really kept secrets from each other.

It wasn’t the fact that it was a man that had them gaping - they’d known Erik was gay for years. In fact, Edie had known long before Erik had come out to them, when he’d run home from pre-school gushing about his new boyfriend. 

Since then Erik hadn’t expressed a romantic interest in anyone since then. But why hadn’t he said anything about this new relationship? Whilst Erik might be a quiet boy, he and Edie were extremely close. He told her everything that was going on in his life. Everything except this it would seem. 

<https://i.ibb.co/fG9vpC4/Fake-News-26072019-075331.png>

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Edie yawned as she walked through the front door. Night shifts were always difficult and she wanted nothing more than a cup of tea, a slice of toast and her bed; exactly in that order. Plus Jakob was away on a business trip so she wouldn’t even be able to take advantage of sleepy morning cuddles. At least the hospital had let her go a couple of hours early due to a quiet night on the ward. She certainly wasn’t upset about the rare occurrence. 

As she was kicking off her shoes she paused, her eyes scanning the floor. Whose shoes were those? They were too small to be Erik’s and they certainly weren’t Ruth’s. 

Her head snapped up towards the ceiling as the cogs clicked into place.

A sly grin spread across her face. If Erik wasn’t going to tell her anything about his new man then she would just find out for herself. If she listened carefully she could hear a quiet murmuring and laughter. They were likely playing on that infernal Xbox that Erik insisted on playing all the time. 

She crept up the stairs quietly but quickly, barely pausing at the door before swinging it open and entering. 

It took a second for her brain to process what she was seeing. And when it finally did, she shrieked in shock.

Erik moved like he’d been shot, rolling off the man he’d previously been thrusting against and yanking the covers Said man squeaked and hid himself fully under the covers. 

There was a millisecond of pure shock where all Edie and Erik could do was stare at each other in shock before a moment of genius passed through Edie’s mind. 

Time to get her revenge.

“Erik...you’re...gay?” She pretended to stammer, making sure there was a look of horror on her face. 

“I’m just messing with you!”, Edie laughed. Erik just continued to stare at her with the most unimpressed look she had ever seen. The poor boy next to him just looked nervously between them, hands still clutched tightly to the quilt.

“Just ignore her, Charles, she knows I’m gay 

She looked over at Erik who was glaring at her, one eyebrow raised and the most unimpressed look she had ever seen across her face.

“I’m sorry but this is just so exciting!”, she rushed 

“It’s so good to finally meet you, Charles. Let me get a look at you.” She rushed around to the other side of the bed and took Charles’ face in her hands.

“Oh look at you,'' she cooed at him, admiring the bright blue eyes staring up at her. He was absolutely adorable! 

“Mama!” 

She looked over at her son, who was not so subtly gesturing for her to leave immediately.

Edie quickly drew back, as if suddenly remembered that the boy who’s face she’d been cupping was currently stark naked under the sheets after being interrupted mid sex with her own son. 

Time to make her exit.

“Oh goodness, that’s right. I’ll just… leave you to...get dressed,” she said, causing Erik to groan dramatically and flop back onto the bed. “Come down for breakfast when you’re ready!”

She shut the bedroom door and made her way downstairs, trying not to grin at the clearly frantic scrambling coming from above. She’d just finished putting the last pieces of toast on the toast rack when Erik appeared in the kitchen. 

He strolled nonchalantly into the kitchen and made for the table as if it were just a regular morning. The act was so good, Edie could almost believe nothing had happened, if it weren’t for the flush of embarrassment still high on his cheekbones.

Charles, however, held no such composure; adorably shuffling into the kitchen looking like a frightened puppy. Edie’s heart went out to him and she smiled warmly at him, gesturing him over to where she was standing by the oven. 

She watched in fascination as Charles launched into an explanation of his genetics course, his eyes bright and alive. She glanced over at Erik and her breath caught in her throat as she saw an expression of absolute adoration on his face. 

Edie smiled. She had a good feeling about this.

<https://i.ibb.co/9yPF8DV/Fake-News-14082019-112045.jpg>

\----------------------------------------------------------

Charles was sitting on his bed reading a book when his phone buzzed with a text. He immediately knew it was Erik and couldn’t stop himself from getting nervous. If he was honest with himself he was still reeling from the whole ordeal the other day. It was certainly not the way he expected to meet Erik’s mother. 

In fact, he’d been worried for a while about how cagey Erik had been in regards to his family. He’d spoken about them a lot, to the point where Charles felt like he’d known them forever. However, whenever Charles had made even the smallest hint toward meeting them, Erik would suddenly become closed off and quickly move onto another topic.

He knew they were young. He knew the hadn’t been dating long. But he loved Erik. More than he could imagine ever loving someone. He knew Erik felt strongly about him too, but had never said he loved Charles. And the insecure part of Charles was too afraid to ask at this point. Too afraid to risk losing everything they had between them; so he’d said nothing. 

Erik hadn’t contacted him in the last couple of days and Charles had worried himself sick expecting a break up call at any minute. He picked up his phone and had a look.

_ ‘Can I come over to yours?’ _

Charles gulped. This was it. It was over. Oh gosh he wasn’t even dressed well. He couldn’t get broken up with in his pyjamas! 

_ ‘Yeah sure. What time?’ _

There you go, that sounded nonchalant enough. He quickly dropped the phone and rushed over to his closet, pulling out a random pair of jeans and a shirt. But before he could even pull some socks on, his doorbell rang and Charles let out a squeak of surprise. 

He looked down at himself; desperately willing the tea stains to disappear. The doorbell rang again and giving up all hope, Charles went to answer it. 

Hand on the key, Charles took a deep breath, just praying that he didn’t burst into ugly sobs as soon as he heard the words ‘we’re done’. He liked to think he still had some dignity left inside him.

He opened the door but before he could say anything he found himself with an armful of Erik, gentle hands at his waist and soft, firm lips on his. And, well, Charles definitely wasn’t going to protest. Especially when one of Erik’s hands slipped down to grab his arse whilst the other reached up to tangle in his hair. Charles’ answering moan set off something primal in Erik, and Charles suddenly found himself being picked up and carried over to his couch.

However, before they went any further Erik suddenly pulled back, looking beautifully ruffled and aroused. He smiled down at Charles but his eyes seemed to hold a certain sadness to them. 

“We need to talk, Charles.” Erik whispered, kissing him gently on the nose. 

Charles’ stomach sank.

“O-ok...but befo-“

“I love you.” 

“.....what?” Charles questioned, his brain struggling to process what had just been said. 

Erik’s cheeks began to flush and he sat back further on his heels, fiddling 

“I know we’ve only been together for a short while, and I know we’re young but I love you. More than I thought I’d ever love anyone. And I know that sounds really cliche, I never really thought I’d say something that sappy. Not that I think loving you is sappy I think it’s great bu—“

Charles quickly covered Erik’s mouth with his hand, Curtis over his rambling. Rambling that Charles, any other time, would have found frankly adorable. But at this moment he couldn’t feel anything else than completely stunned

“Charles say something” Erik mumbled from behind his hand.

“I thought you were going to break up with me!” Charles burst out, his eyes tearing up slightly from confusion. Fantastic, Charles, way to go on the whole bit crying thing. 

“What?”

“Your mother found out about us, and I know you didn’t want me to meet any of your family. And then you don’t speak to me for days afterwards and then you suddenly want to come over to ‘talk’. And we’ve only been…’seeing’ each other for a few months and I didn’t think you felt that... strongly about me.” 

Trailing off it was Charles’ turn to flush, feeling oddly vulnerable after voicing everything that was on his mind.

Erik groaned, scrubbing his hands over his face.

“Shit - I’ve been a horrific boyfriend.”

Charles sat up; startled. “Wait we’re boyfriends?”

At this Erik slumped forward with a whimper, burying his head into Charles’ shoulder.

As much as Charles knew they needed to have a serious talk, he couldn’t help but put him arms around Erik, allowing him to snuggle further into Charles’ embrace.

“Did you really think I was going to break up with you?” asked Erik, sounding sadder than Charles had ever heard him. 

“Honestly yes, Erik, I did.”

Erik bowed his head and sighed. Charles couldn’t resist running his hands through that soft hair.

“I’m sorry, truly, for making you feel that way. As for my family, the can be a bit full on. Don’t get me wrong I love them to bits but I’ve never brought everyone home before. If I ever did bring someone home I wanted it to be because we were serious and I could see it lasting. Not that I’m not serious about you but -“

“But I should’ve been more honest about my feelings earlier on, might’ve helped clear things up a bit.”

“And I should’ve made it clear exactly how I felt about you.” 

Charles giggled. 

“We’re hopeless aren’t we?”

Erik grinned, “A little bit, but not completely it seems. So, how about it? Ready to meet the rest of my crazy family?”

“It’s going to take a lot more than that to scare me away, Erik Lehnsherr.” Charles grinned, placing a chaste kiss on Erik’s lips. 

Erik growled playfully at him and tackled back onto the couch and they spent the rest of the night demonstrating exactly how much they meant to each other.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------

<https://i.ibb.co/MNBNzHJ/Fake-News-14082019-112305.jpg>

Edie was sitting in the lounge, slowly drinking a cup of tea before heading up to bed. Jakob was already in bed and Edie smiled to herself as the familiar sound of his snoring filtered down from upstairs. The events of the past week had caused her to reminisce of when she had first met Jakob and how lucky they were to still be so in love all these years later. 

She had found her soulmate; and it was her biggest wish that both her children would find theirs too. Though she would never say this to Erik for fear of scaring him off, but she had a good feeling that Charles was something special. And, if she was being honest, as well as being the world’s best mum she prided herself in always being right....mostly. 

The soft creak of the stairs drew her attention to the door, where none other than Erik appeared, coming over and slumping on the couch beside her. He dropped his head onto her shoulder and she slowly began to card her fingers through his soft hair. They sat in silence for a while, both of them content to just be with each other. She could tell he wanted to say something, but it was always best to wait until he was ready.

“I love Charles”, he murmured softly, as if he was afraid of disturbing the peace that had settled over the room. Edie pressed a kiss on his forehead.

“I know, boychick, we love him too.”

“Really?” He lifted his head up and looked at her, his usual mask of indifference giving way to a look of true nervousness. 

“Yes of course we do! He’s everything I could’ve hoped for you and more. He’s kind, caring, intelligent and most importantly he makes you happier than I have ever seen you. Even if he wasn’t all those things, that last one would be enough to make me love him anyway. 

“Now, go get some rest. After all, we’re going to need some energy to plan the wedding!” 

She burst out laughing at the sheer look of horror on Erik’s face. Let it never be said that parenting wasn’t fun! 

  
  
<https://i.ibb.co/17H7rcs/Photo-1564407614601.png>  
  
  
  



End file.
